Place 4 cups of water in a large pot along with the barley. Bring to boil at high heat. Then as soon as it boils, turn it down to medium-low heat and cook for about half an hour. Add the beans, chickpeas, vanilla, apricots, raisins, figs, sugar and 6 cups of hot water. Cook for about 45 minutes at medium-low heat. Stir occasionally. Pour into a large service bowl and let cool.

This recipe is one of the oldest and best known desserts of Turkish Cuisine. Its original name is "Aşure". When we cook Aşure, it is traditional to give some away to friends and family.

5000 years ago in Mesopotamia, Noah was King of the city Shuruppak. His was a trade empire, and he built a large trading ship. At that time, there was a raging flood and rainstorm. He and his family loaded animals, grain, fruit and beer on board. The rain continued for 40 days. Afterwards there was no land in sight for 7 days. They ran out of drinking water and since the sea was salty, they had to resort to drinking beer. They eventually landed on Mount Ararat.

The old saying goes that Noah's food was about to run out. He mixed and cooked all that he had left. The result became known as "Noah's Pudding". Turkish people love Aşure and there is even an Aşure Month.

Thank you for your easy and delicious recepies it brought up lots of nice memories from my trip last year. However, it would be right to set the record straight about prophet Noah's story and the flood. Thank you very much for your magnificent work

Hi Binnur. Your recipes are excellent. I have tried many of them and I've been very successful in my family and with my friends. Thank you very much for posting them.Now I'm going to try this recipe but I'm not very sure about the water used in it, 4 cups at the beginning, and later on 6 other cups, isnt this too much?

ashure means 10. ashure is the tenth day of the first month of the year, the month of muharrem. Ashure, the tenth day of muharrem, is honored because Muslims follow the practice of the Prophet Mohammed. The islamic calendar is lunar so it is ten days shorter than the standard year. Ashure changes every year, because the New Year is determined by seeing the new moon. Ashure is eaten during the first ten days of the new year.

Hello. First of all I would like to thank you so much for this recipe. I was wondering should it be thick while its cooking?; or does it get thick once its cooling? If you could please answer me back right away that would be great seeing as I am cooking it right now and it isnt thick so im not sure if I should turn the heat off now and let it cool or if I should add something to make it thick. Thank you.

Binnur, Oh my Gosh, This was my favourite pudding when I was in Istanbul living and thought I'd never get to taste it again. I followed the recipe to the letter and (I DID IT) Love the recipe. Obviously too much so like Istanbul dropped some off for friends and neighbours.

The Turkish guys who are very picky about food though I'd bought it in a restaurant. Love the site.

Hi Krotka,Thank you:) “Asure” is a long known dessert the ingredients of which have always been the same as mentioned in the a/m history. The beans and chickpeas are considered main ingredients and the taste could be adversely affected:)

Thank you for this wonderful recipe, I adore asure! I'd like to ask you something. If the chickpeas and white kidney beans are not canned (we buy them in dry packages), should they be boiled first and for how long? Thank you!

Hi Ninevi,Thank you:)Dried kidney beans and chickpeas should be soaked overnight and boiled until they are a bit softer (easy to bite) and drained. I can't give you the exact time for this because it depends on the variety of beans. Some cook for a shorter period of time, some don't:)Take care,

Binnur, I tired to send you this comment before but I am not sure it reached you as it seems I hit a wrong button

Can you PLEASE post a pic (large scale) of barley for your international fans, since in different countries the product is called differently, just to make sure we buy the right staff.also I have seen some people soak barley overnight, what would you say to that

Hi,You can use pearl barley or wheat what ever you have in your area:) I remember my mother or my granny used to soak them into the water for a night. But I don't do that because they cook for a less amount of time compare to old times:)

Hi Ilktac,It seems that the dry ingredients especially wheat or barley soaked all the water. Next time you can slowly add more hot water while stirring and even after you turned the heat off:)Take care,